Joe Kinnear has a mountain to climb as Newcastle United's interim manager, but he insisted it is nothing compared with the challenge he faced at the start of his managerial career among the peaks of Nepal.

Despite his temporary status, Kinnear, who should be able to name Michael Owen as a substitute against Aston Villa tonight after the striker's recovery from a groin strain, has won over Newcastle's supporters with just one defeat in four games. However, his criticism of the former manager and Geordie icon, Kevin Keegan, did not go down well over the weekend.

Kinnear has been inconsistent about the nature of his relationship with Mike Ashley, the club's unpopular owner, as well as the finer details of his past, but that did not stop him from siding with the billionaire in the transfer row that precipitated Keegan's exit last month. According to Kinnear, Ashley was not to blame for the dispute and suggested that "people will be surprised" when the details of Keegan's departure are revealed. Keegan's popularity on Tyneside is undiminished and the man who replaced him as manager has taken a risk in faulting him.

Not that Kinnear is worried by what people think of him, as he reflected on his short time as the coach of Nepal in 1987. He said: "It was an amazing experience. You have to do it when you are young. I don't think I would do something like that now but I am glad I did it, saw it, and roamed around. We trained at the foot of Mount Everest. There was a hotel right near and you could see it as you looked outside of your window. Incredible place. It was an education."

Meanwhile James Milner has hit out at the instability that saw him leave Newcastle to join Villa for £12m in the summer. "A lot of things went on at the club and the events after I left, like the manager leaving, showed that not everyone was on the same wavelength," said Milner. "That shows that things weren't right. Stability has been the problem at Newcastle for a long time. There have been a lot of off-field problems for years. There always seems to be something going on off the field and that can't be good for a football team trying to win matches."

A victory for Villa tonight will take the side into the top three ahead of their Uefa Cup trip to Slavia Prague on Thursday.